


In The Meantime, In Between Time

by nativemossy



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Fluff, M/M, Mentions of Chronic Illness, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Sleepy Cuddles, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-02-10 18:11:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18665680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nativemossy/pseuds/nativemossy
Summary: Steve was born sickly, and by all realistic means he should have been dead. But he wasn’t, and that was precisely the problem.He had been born a month and a half early, with asthma, a heart condition, and an irregularly bent spine, to begin with. That was followed by a bout of scarlet fever when he was eight, and a brush with death from rheumatic fever in his teens. These were interspersed with summer colds and winter flus, sometimes twice yearly. Into adulthood he had frequent stomach ulcers, and a case of pernicious anemia that required him to spend a significant portion of the little money he made on discounted liver at the butchers shop. Had anyone else had his cocktail of illness, they would be dead several times over.Yet, he remained, and there was only one logical explanation as to why that was.





	In The Meantime, In Between Time

**Author's Note:**

> done for Trope Bingo round 12 prompt: Soul Bonding/Soulmates  
> it feels important to note that this was named "funk n soul ya dig" in my drafts folder
> 
> title taken from "Ain't We Got Fun" by Peggy Lee

          Steve was born sickly, and by all realistic means he should have been dead. But he wasn’t, and that was precisely the problem. 

          He had been born a month and a half early, with asthma, a heart condition, and an irregularly bent spine, to begin with. That was followed by a bout of scarlet fever when he was eight, and a brush with death from rheumatic fever in his teens. These were interspersed with summer colds and winter flus, sometimes twice yearly. Into adulthood he had frequent stomach ulcers, and a case of pernicious anemia that required him to spend a significant portion of the little money he made on discounted liver at the butchers shop. Had anyone else had his cocktail of illness, they would be dead several times over.

          Yet, he remained, and there was only one logical explanation as to why that was.

          People did not begin to age past maturity until they had met their soulmate; this was a universal fact. Many people met their soulmate without even knowing, and normally this wouldn’t be an issue. However, when someone never met their soulmate at all, that was where the problem lied. 

          Despite the odds, the actual rate of which people met their soulmates in some form or another was exceedingly high. Most people didn’t realize until weeks later that all the sudden the skin near their eyes wasn’t as tight as it used to be, or maybe a smattering of hairs on their temples were going grey. The few who had the misfortune of being Mismatched were forced to live through an eternity of loneliness, destined to wander until the end of time in solitude.

          Steve had plenty of aches, but hadn’t so much as gained a frown line since he turned 20. Tme passed, the war was long over, and he still hadn’t aged.

          He remembered long nights spent staring at the water stains on the ceiling, worrying about how he was gonna pay that week’s rent, or what he would be able to afford for dinner the next night, or if he would ever see his best friend alive again. This went on for years - endless cycles of terrifying thought after thought and no sleep night after night. The only thing he had to show for it was a lost secretarial job at the post office and his own memories. No greys, no wrinkles, and against the odds he was still alive.

          He had figured, in the interim of more than seventy years that had passed with him still looking sickly and 20, that he really was doomed to be alone. Kids always morbidly joked about being alone forever, but when you’re young it’s hard to consider what it’s like to stare down an eternity of time stretching infinitely before you.

          Steve’s infinity drew to a close as he was -fortunately- laid up in a hospital bed, fighting off what was his most persistent case of pneumonia in decades. He remembered a doctor telling him long ago that in the case that he did meet his soulmate he probably wouldn’t even live to know the poor dame’s name. The shock of knowing, combined with his sudden launch back into the aging process, would more than likely to drive his bum heart to kill him.

          So it would only stand to reason that when his soulmate walked into the room - accidentally, as it later was revealed - that his heart would just give out right there. He was awake just long enough to hear the annoying tone of the flatline, and what he swore was the panicked voice of an angel, before he passed out. He hoped to whatever god would listen that he could live long enough to appreciate the gift he had been given.

          Steve’s eternity was named Tony Stark, and he was going to cherish him for however much time he had left.

          The immediate aftermath was a rush of surgeries: Steve’s body couldn’t keep up and it obviously wasn’t going to wait for his go-ahead to break down. One open heart surgery later and he was slumped in a hospital bed while one increasingly irate man paced his room.

          The pain and stress of their beginning made this part all the sweeter. The warm, quiet  _ after _ part where everything was going to be alright because they were going to do it all together.

          Tony’s hair was soft as he carded his hand through it, the gentle morning sun turning the grey at his temples into a warm silver. His mouth was parted slightly in sleep, with soft little breaths puffing into the air between them. The stress that pinched at the corners of his eyes was gone, abandoned for the tender sweetness of sleep. 

          Steve found himself curling his arm tighter around his soulmate, feeling him grumble quietly before settling back down into a doze. A smile stretched its way across his face, growing as he tucked his head into the crook of Tony’s neck. 

          So, while Steve no longer had an eternity to himself, he knew the time he had left was going to be just fine. They’d face it together, and everything was exactly as it should be.

**Author's Note:**

> thats it! it's been a While since i wrote sleepy fluff, but after That Movie it was something i needed. Check me out (and yell abt endgame) on my [tumblr](https://nativemossy.tumblr.com/), [pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.social/nativemossy), or [dreamwidth](https://nativemossy.dreamwidth.org/)


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